The Porch that THRIFT built...

I am cleaning out closets this week. Yes. But this time - AFTER the move. It is a GOOD thing. A number of items came over on the moving van simply because I wasn't sure what this house looked like and how it was laid out and didn't know what I would need, or might wish I had kept.

Now that I am pretty well finished "putting the house together"...it is TIME to declutter the closets...



Gleaning, Picking and Choosing can be downright hard.

I am working on the "outside" room lately. (screened porch) So in the process of trying to sort and glean, I am also still having fun with it. This one corner of the porch is done. (I think....) ;-)

** WELL...except for the paint color. We will be painting the Redwood siding this Spring/Summer. Right now it is a dull and very unappealing brown (with just the slightest tint of (mauve or purple?) in it. Kurt and I both are not happy with it. That is at the top of the list of DO-able tasks for us that will have a huge impact on the house. (NO offense to the previous owner intended. Everybody has different taste.)



the "mini" wooden interior shutters got a coat of Spring Green and were added to give a pop to the windows.


this sweet little message got added just because I wanted it there! :-)


MORE conchs found...wow...somebody has been getting rid of a lot of shells and Goodwill has been my supplier for the porch.


Since I got the coffee table for the porch I moved Kurt's old college wicker basket under this corner set-up. I had this Cane framed mirror that I had brought with me from Charlotte that I decided NOT to use in the guest room. I thought it would make a neat "Swan Lake" display. The swan WAS in my living room. I simply poured scads of little bags of shells (YES again...from GW) all around the mirror and covered the cane. You know the saying that a body of water looks like a "sheet of glass" on a still calm day... that's what gave me the idea for using a mirror.


but then when a water-fowl glides across they stir up the water and leave little swirls and ripples behind them...so I used beach glass I already had (yes this came out of the declutter box)and made a little stream around the swan.

*So that was my fun project in this corner!!


This "marsh" looking bird was also a thrift find and graces the coffee table.


The Clippership painting looks like a painted canvas but is actually on a board. I found it at the Salvation Army store. It was marked $3.00 but was half price that day so for a buck-fifty I was thrilled. It still has the Kirkland's price tag on the back for 29.99!

This post is getting long. I will close today with a smile and a {{hug}} for any dropping by in my little corner of the world here in Iowa, and hope that you have a smile in your heart today.

Thanks for prayers for our military and for especially those of you who lift a prayer for Justin. I just read that they have finished in Spain. Once again I do not know where they will be headed next. No word from the Marine. We sure miss hearing from him.

We Love you Justin! God BLESS you!!!!